A Freedom Lover's Faustian Bargain

I have read many pro-freedom articles on Strike The Root, but one of the strangest was Jim Davies' piece "Handouts." Somehow, I had a hard time reconciling what I was reading there, with Thoreau's quote at the top of the page. Who'd-a thunk it? That we could hack at the root of evil by profiting from it? I mean, how cool is that?

Still, I thought I would try to apply a critique of Jim's six points, to make sure I'm not letting him lead me down the garden path ending up in a place I don't want to be. Some of this may appear repetitious, if only because his points also appear that way.

The first thing to notice is that Jim admits, ". . . to accept the handout is to be complicit in that aggression." What he does subsequently, however, is simply to ignore that point, as if it is a detail to be brushed aside.

He then claims that, ". . . our prime ethical objective is to terminate government outright . . . ."--and to go no further until that is resolved! Well, I guess I must be a bad person because I did go further even though I did not agree. In fact I'm amazed he can make such a statement. It's somewhat like saying the prime objective is to protect the Union , therefore we must war on secessionists. Virtually anything can be justified by agreeing with his premise. Hegelian events? No problemo! Profiting from evil? Just fine, as long as it (allegedly) makes government go away more quickly!

I would respond to Jim that our prime ethical objective is to live decent, honest, non-aggressive (some would say "Godly") lives--and that getting rid of government is one of the best ways to have more people do the same. But let's not put the cart before the horse! If we had to get rid of this government by wallowing in its evil, it wouldn't be long before another government had its boot on our neck again. As Sam Adams put it, "For no people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when Knowledge is diffus'd and Virtue is preserv'd. On the contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauch'd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders." Dumping morality in order to get free? Sorry, it doesn't work that way!

One answer might be Okay, some it's impossible to reject, but on ethical grounds we ought to reject all that we can.

Very well, but notice: The ethical purist has now had to step down from his high ground.

Jim has cleverly restructured reality so that the only people whose ethics remain unsullied by compromise are those who are dead.

Notice that the government he so abhors cannot fail to be pleased if this is the popular reading of reality. "Walk on that sidewalk? Great! Join the rest of us pigs wallowing in the muck!"

He even had the gall to use "unemployment insurance" to buttress this argument, an institution people had long done without for so many years, an institution literally chock full of moral hazard. Was life really that bad when a person had to be more prudent in his financial affairs, when he had to depend on friends, family and church for a little help over the rough spots, when getting a new job was easy because hiring posed no risk to an employer? Is it now impossible to be prudent? I agree it is harder. That's government for you!

Sorry, Jim. 'One does not lose the moral high ground because government usurpation has eliminated all free market alternatives.

'My second reason: Refusal is enormously costly . . .

It's hard to know what to do with this argument. Yes, not accepting stolen money can be "costly." His example is Socialist Security. His argument works well for a 60-year old. It doesn't work so hot for a 30-year old, who won't receive a penny from Socialist Security. "Let 'em eat cake," eh?

My third is that refusal of government handouts is in any case irrelevant and ineffective to the key aim of terminating the existence of government . . .

This may be so. It may even be counterproductive to that end, to refrain from going on the dole. But should that really be our primary aim? As I said, anything is justifiable if you start from the most advantageous premise.

But, it may also be false. Rejecting government may in fact be a way to make it go away more quickly. Ever wonder why educrats have been trying everything they can to get homeschooled kids back into government schools? They don't want people getting the idea that not only is homeschooling better for kids, but it is even easier for the parents than the government alternative. After all is said and done, are homeschoolers making the state last longer by not consuming "education" funds, or are they making it go away more quickly? I think the answer is pretty clear.

Fourth: to accept every goodie in sight takes money out of its hands, and therefore makes government harder to operate, and therefore tends to increase the probability of its raising taxes (or printing more money, which is the same thing but less visible) and therefore tends to make the voting population less satisfied with the system.

So . . . all that time I was voting against tax increases, I was wrong? Now that I've given up on voting, that's wrong too? I guess anything can be rationalized if you work hard enough at it. Anything is justified if you pick the advantageous premise, that of "ending government."

Fifth: to accept handouts is a form of theft-recovery.

So . . . say someone steals my motorcycle. I go out and steal the first one I see under the rubric "theft recovery"? No problem with that?

The money stolen from us is not sitting in a vault in the District of Criminals. It has been pissed away years ago. One does not (ethically) recover from theft by victimizing an innocent third party.

Lastly, while it's true that everything government hands out it first steals from someone else, it's also true (like it or not) that most of those theft victims voted for the system as we know it.

'That'll show 'em. Revenge is fun and profitable!

This argument sounds a tad collectivist, though. Lots of people voted against the current system, or (more importantly) refrained from voting. In fact, I would say most people fall into one of those two categories; look at the voter stats.

'So much for the arm waving. It's still theft. You can paper that fact over, or you can stare it in the face. If you had to do the stealing yourself, rather than using government as your middleman, would you do it? Even if you "needed" it? Stick a gun in your neighbor's face, and tell him to hand it over, "all for a good cause"? Or would you try something else?

'One way to judge some policy, is to imagine how the world would look if everyone did it. If everyone did as Jim suggests, we'd be living in a socialist Hell, with no motivation to work any more; and after a while all these rationalizations for theft would be forgotten, because everyone would be a whore (my apologies to real whores). If, on the other hand, everyone rejected government bennies, then government's main prop for its continued existence would cease to exist, and we would be free.

One of the easiest things for human beings to do is to rationalize bad behavior. I suspect Jim's article has more to do with rationalization, than with any newfound way for us to get free. It's a Faustian bargain.

A more sensible program is to take as little from government as you can stand, and give it as little as you can get away with. In other words, don't victimize others, and try not to be a victim yourself. And don't give up, even if you can't be perfect.

Jim finishes by saying that with a few exceptions, we should take every government bennie we can lay our hands on, while denouncing it for offering them. Well, if that denunciation is mental, I would respond that, "Actions matter, not thoughts." And if the denunciation is verbal? Yeah, that will go over really well--paying at the cashier with food stamps while complaining that government gave them to you! What a great way to enhance one's credibility.

Comments

What can I say. ELEGANT! Honey from the hive., but sadly I have to live in my own guilt and shame because I paid into SS, or was forced to. Retirement I had a choice and I chose the retirement plan because I knew I would never save enough money to make it a year on my own. If there were a way for elderly people to achieve independence I would go for it but I'll be lucky to make it through another 3 years, 5 if I am really lucky.
I keep asking for solutions on this site. I note there are some very bright, intelligent minds here whom could solve or offer resolutions to be hammered out in the fire, and method to help free others up. Can you legally sell your own body parts?

Difficult to see why you should be ashamed, Glock, for doing something under threat of force. Morality kicks in only when we have a choice.

Having done so, certainly there is an argument for refusing to accept corresponding benefits. I once took that course with respect to unemployment benefits, though now think I was mistaken. With its offer of SS benefits, government is giving you the chance to claw back some of that theft. Take it!

Yes, I know the money really comes from new taxpayers - that the scheme is wickedly deceptive. But those taxpayers voted for the scheme. Give them what they asked for. It may help them re-think.

If you really despise the money, take it anyway and give it to a worthy cause, such as supporting STR. But on no account leave it in the hands of the destroyer. That's reprehensible.

It corresponds to the (horribly difficult) action of refusing to pay taxes; arithmetically, it has an identical effect. If it is morally good to refuse to hand money TO government, is is morally good to take money FROM government.

NONE OF THIS IS EVEN CLOSE, however, in importance, to the task of ending the government swindle altogether, so that moral choices like this don't even arise. I encourage you diligently to pursue your studies in TOLFA, which you've mentioned on another thread, then to find one friend a year to do the same. That is all that is needed to accomplish that purpose, within the lifetimes of most readers here.

Finishing upon the Humanism one. With christmas here and family, getting into much of anything is getting to be a chore. Soon it will all be over. I have so little time and so many things I want to do see and read which I never had the time for before. In part I don't have shame over the ss. I put into it from my very first job to the end. I am at least due that part back. If I could only invent my pet rock or the hula hoop all would be fine.

Suverans2 "Its Learne Helplessness" like me. If you are in your 30's you have one hell of a chance to beat the hell outa tha system. If you'er not, your' caught unless you are 1 a genious, 20 independently wealthy,3) and established moonshiner or drug runner. As I review my past I see how I was trapped like the squrrils I trap. Once you'er in that box theres no gettin out unless you smash your brains out on the steel door. Fight to protect it. If I don't I die sooner and you get to have more air to breath.
In part what I have said periodically no one's got a plan, no solution except flabber jabber. Don't get me wrong, flabber jabber is fun and exciting sometimes but unless the younguns get some very good mentoring lord wwhat a mess theres gonna be.

I'm not certain what your point is, or points are; no offense, but I will give it a go.

First off, is it your opinion that we shouldencourage individuals to become "hopelessly dependent on the system"? Before answering this, remember, the "younguns" are watching what you, (and I), do, they do not really listen to what you, (and I), "flabber jabber" about.

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Keep in mind that I did not, and do not, criticize anyone for taking member-only benefits from the government. I simply remind them, with my “flabber jabber”, that it is only right that, "He who derives a benefit from a thing, ought to feel the disadvantages attending it", and "Be not desirous of his (your ruler(s)] dainties [benefits]): for they are deceitful meat". In your opinion, is that good advice to give to the "younguns"?

I warn the “younguns”, with my “flabber jabber”, about the Monkey Trap, “A cage containing a banana with a hole large enough for a monkey's hand to fit in, but not large enough for a monkey's fist (clutching a banana) to come out. Used to "catch" monkeys that are too greedy to let go of the banana and run away.” The benefits/privileges are the bait in the government "monkey trap".

So, if you really believe that, tell us now, J.D., why on Earth should anyone give up their "government job"?

How about waiving all member-only "goodies"; is that impossible, in your opinion, too, J.D.?

Or, is it just that...

(2) to do so even partially is enormously costly...

And, there it is!! This, I'm sure you know, is the number one reason individuals aren't "opting out of the whole government system", but rather sitting back in their La-Z-Boy recliners expecting others to do so.

"The fear of loss is greater than the hope for gain." Oh, so few, will let go of the "banana" to gain their freedom.

The remaining four excuses aren't even worthy of responses, in my opinion, since it is obvious that you were just grasping at straws, but if you insist, then I shall go on.